Steve Berry is a highly successful American author, best known for his thriller novels. Before finding success as a writer, Berry practiced law for many years. However, his true passion lay in writing, and he spent a significant amount of time honing his craft, even in the face of numerous rejections from publishing companies. Berry has credited his background at a Catholic school for giving him the discipline and willpower to keep writing and submitting his work.
Berry's novels have achieved remarkable success, with all of his twenty-two books appearing on various bestseller lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and BookSense. His books have been translated into forty-one languages and have sold over twenty-five million copies in fifty-two countries. Such is the popularity of Berry's novels that one of them is sold somewhere in the world every thirty seconds.
In addition to his Cotton Malone series, Berry has written several stand-alone thrillers, as well as four novellas with M.J. Rose. He is also a co-author with Grant Blackwood for the Luke Daniels Adventure, The 9th Man. Berry's work is deeply rooted in history, a subject that he is passionate about, along with his wife, Elizabeth. This shared interest led them to establish History Matters, a foundation dedicated to historic preservation. Through their efforts, they have raised over $1.5 million for the preservation of endangered historic treasures across the country.
Berry's achievements have been recognized with various awards and honors, including the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award, the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, the Anne Frank Human Writes Award, and the Silver Bullet, which was bestowed by International Thriller Writers for his philanthropic work. He has also been named the Florida and Georgia Writer of the Year and is an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board. In 2010, The Templar Legacy was named one of the top 100 thrillers ever written in a NPR survey. Berry was born and raised in Georgia and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He practiced law for thirty years and held elective office for fourteen of those years. Berry is a founding member of International Thriller Writers and served as its co-president for three years.